Eagle no longer an honor for some Scouts

Anti-gay stance causes some Eagle Scouts to renounce recognition

WILTON — "Once an Eagle, always an Eagle," the saying goes, but it's no longer true for some who attained the Boy Scouts' highest rank.

A small but growing number of Eagle Scouts have renounced Scouting's most prestigious recognition over the last three months in protest over the organization's policy to ban openly gay males from joining its ranks.

Michael Prisco, a 2000 graduate of Saratoga Springs High School, retired his wings on Aug. 22. He quit the Scouts and mailed his Eagle Scout medal to the organization's National Executive Board, along with a letter. He published the message on a Web page at tumblr.com, where other Eagle Scouts posted resignation letters.

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"As a result of your reaffirmation of the policy to exclude gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth and leaders from your organization, I am no longer proud to call myself an Eagle Scout," Prisco wrote. "In returning this badge, I realize what an immense impact my 13 years of Scouting has had on my life."

Prisco, who now lives in Boston, was among 318 Eagle Scouts who have returned their red, white and blue Eagle pins as of Friday, according to Scouts for Equality, a national organization dedicated to overhauling the Boy Scouts' membership standards. Nearly a million people have signed online petitions demanding changes to the anti-gay policy, according to the group, which claims more than 250,000 online members, including 2,325 "Eagles."

Achieving the coveted Eagle Scout rank is a long and difficult process. About 51,473, or 5 percent of all Boy Scouts, reached the top rank in 2011. To be considered, Scouts must earn 21 merit badges for leadership, service and outdoor activities, complete an intensive project in their community and finish other tasks.

Prisco started as a Cub Scout at age 5. He became an extremely active member of Boy Scout Troop 24 in Wilton, where he grew up, attending weekly meetings and camping trips.

Prisco started working toward his goal of reaching Eagle Scout status when he was 17. He raised funds and organized the construction of a wooden bridge that takes hikers over a creek in Ora Phelps Nature Preserve. It took the 11th-grader several months to complete it. Troop leaders pinned the Eagle Scout medal on him at a ceremony in June 1999.

"I felt really good, really accomplished," Prisco said. He went on to graduate from the State University at Buffalo. At age 30, he is a park ranger in Boston National Historical Park.

On July 17, The Boy Scouts of America said it would continue excluding gay youths and adult leaders. "The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers, and at the appropriate time and in the right setting," said Bob Mazzuca, chief Scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America. "While a majority of our membership agrees with our policy, we fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society."

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In the following weeks, Prisco read a letter on a blog written by an Eagle Scout who returned his medal. Prisco, who is not gay, said he realized then he, too, had to do the same because he could not allow himself an opportunity to which others weren't entitled.

"It was really hard," he said. "It became incredibly emotional. I didn't realize how much it meant to me."

In his Aug. 22 letter to Mazzuca and the Scouts' Executive Board, Prisco called their decision "discriminatory, bigoted, hurtful and against everything Scouting taught me." The Boy Scouts of America did not reply.

Prisco's parents, Charles and Carole Prisco of Wilton, support their son's decision, even if, as his mom noted, surrendering an Eagle Scout can be like giving up a master's degree, at least in terms of a work resume.

"It was a tough decision, but you have to stand by what you believe," Carole Prisco said.